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Last summer, I stood in front of a packed room of talent acquisition, procurement, HR, and recruitment professionals (as well as many, many friends running contingent workforce programs!) and stated a phrase that I’d repeat ad-nauseum through 2024 and into 2025.
The Future of Work is human.
While it’s hard to believe that we are nearly five years (five years!) removed from the beginnings of the biggest health crisis of our collective lifetimes, the fact remains that the ramifications, both personally and professionally, of the COVID-19 pandemic affected all of us as humans in a deeply profound way…a way that sticks with us even in these early weeks of 2025.
When life (and business) returned to “normal” in late 2021/early 2022 (depending on when you would define “normalcy,” right?), many business leaders and their teams kept that sheen of humanity in how they managed and how they worked, choosing to embrace empathy, diversity, inclusion, equitable treatment, emotional intelligence, and other human-led factors that wore woven into the very fabric and dynamics of “work.”
Somewhere between now and then, though, these amazing attributes began to fade for too many enterprises. Remote and hybrid work, perhaps the most famous of all non-technological Future of Work ideals and probably the centerpiece of the movement’s rapid acceleration during the pandemic, started a rift between workers and executives, who, respectively, yearned for continued flexibility and its rigid counterpart of return-to-office (RTO) mandates (which dismiss the proven benefits of remote and hybrid arrangements that supported and continue to support work-life integration).
Today, within the throes of a brand-new political administration in the United States, some large and household brands are publicly walking back DE&I initiatives in the same way many executives pared back flexible work options. These DE&I initiatives, once central to corporate strategy, have been scaled back significantly, with diversity hiring targets relaxed and inclusion programs receiving reduced funding and attention
[And, in more heartbreaking DE&I-related news, the new presidential administration has ordered all federal DE&I and accessibility employees placed on paid leave with the expectation that all of these positions will be eliminated in a matter of weeks. It won’t be surprising to see more large-scale American businesses slash or eliminate diversity initiatives in the wake of conservative and right-wing political pressure.]
Scroll through LinkedIn and you’ll see that some of the feel-good, heartwarming tales of “empathy in the workplace” and posts that made others smile during darker times are replaced by complaints, anxiety, and overall displeasure over how cold and callous the business arena has become. The irony lies in how this erosion of empathy contradicts organizations’ public messaging about valuing their people, creating a disconnect between stated values and lived experience that undermines trust and organizational culture.
The Future of Work certainly thrives on technology, innovation, and the evolution of “work.” However, it also depends on the human factor and the idea that progressive thinking is what separates one organization from another. Forward-thinking organizations are those that leverage technology to create space for more meaningful human work, fostering environments where innovation emerges from the unique intersection of human creativity and technological capability.
A human-centric approach to the Future of Work manifests in how organizations develop talent, structure teams, and build values, and, most critically, how they retain talent and build a true aura of talent sustainability. It’s reflected in leadership styles that prioritize emotional intelligence, empathy, and understanding alongside the traditional foundations of “corporate culture.”
Humanity is apparent in the manager that understands the stress that a working single parent endures. Humanity is displayed in businesses that understand that a diverse talent community is the best, deepest talent community. Humanity is shown throughout the enterprises that have leaders that truly prioritize their people and think of them as humans and not just workers.
Humanity emerges within those businesses that view mental health support as a necessity and not a “perk.” Humanity is visible in enterprises that support flexible career paths and help their talent take whichever passages they choose towards personal and professional growth…even if those pathways aren’t traditionally linear.
Humanity shines in those businesses that understand productivity isn’t just about sheer numbers but also the growth of its people. Humanity manifests in executive leaders that honor and embrace the entirety of their people, such as their unique perspectives, cultures, backgrounds, voices, and aspirations, rather than merely their corporate output.
As the business arena struggles with massive change and economic pressures and adapts and transforms to the shifting world around us, an essential truth emerges: behind the digital transformation strategies, behind the technological advancements, behind the corporate successes, and behind the pure innovation are humans…humans that feel, that dream, that persevere.
Modern business isn’t just about profits and bottom-lines and numbers. Yeah, all of those attributes are incredibly critical to survival and the ability to thrive in even the most challenging of economic and market conditions. The financial figures will always be top-of-mind, no doubt.
Let us not ignore, though, that we achieve and succeed when we create cultures and workplace environments that enhance humanity, that cultivate authenticity within the people that drive our accomplishments. The Future of Work movement thrives when we, as business leaders, give our people the opportunities to contribute meaningful and purposeful work that brightens the human element.
The Future of Work is human. Let’s never forget that.
